• Locations

  Croydon, London

• Salary

  £600 - £650 per day

• Sector

  Homelessness, Housing, Revenues & Benefits

• Type

  Contract / Interim

Head of Homelessness and Allocations – Croydon Council

Are you a Head of Homelessness and Allocations? Croydon Council are looking for a Head of Homelessness and Allocations to join their team on a contract basis!

Responsible for: To be the professional lead for all aspects of homelessness and housing register assessments, rough sleeping and allocation of social housing which includes:

· Homelessness assessment (triage, prevention and relief service)
· Single Homeless Service
· Tackling rough sleeping
· Reviews
· Housing register assessment
· Allocation of social housing

Corporate Accountabilities (all Heads of Service)
To actively seek out and learn from external good practice and bring those new ideas and ways of working into service development and delivery.
To contribute and lead as required as a project owner on the delivery and implementation of specific corporate projects as required.
To actively role model the council’s priorities and ways of working and the council’s leadership framework and values.

Service Accountabilities:
To work jointly with the director of Director of Homelessness Prevention & Accommodation and other heads of service within the division to ensure the development and transformation of services that meet the new budget envelope in the medium-term financial strategy is delivered.

As the professional lead for homelessness and housing register assessment as well as allocation of social housing, to deliver a high quality new integrated housing service which is respectful and responsive to our tenants and leaseholders, managing all residential lettings regardless of tenure and funding base (HRA or GF).

To lead on temporary accommodation strategy, looking at ways to reduce TA and increase prevention. Oversee quality of TA/EA provision in conjunction with private sector housing team

To lead and work collaboratively with other council services, partners and residents on service development and improvements to ensure delivery of housing targets.

Putting in place performance measures to review periodically the impact of new duties on clients, and services, analyse trends and plan for sustainable service delivery at the highest standard; and ensure that housing assessments are conducted in line with the legislation and are in compliance with Council Policy and all internal and external standards.

Leading on Rough Sleeping strategies and pathways to ensure statutory obligations are discharged.

Leading all aspects of single homelessness work.

Instil a culture of customer service and “can-do” attitude across teams

Providing direction and management to Homelessness and Housing Register Teams, to plan, develop and deliver our statutory duties in line with legislation, Council Policy and priorities.

Ensure the safe, effective and efficient delivery of the homelessness prevention grant.

Work closely with other directorates on homelessness prevention and safeguarding issues.

Key Stakeholder Relationships:
Internal:
Members; Chief Officers; Directors; Heads of Service; other teams and senior departmental colleagues across the whole council; trade unions

Political Restrictions:
This post is politically restricted and under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, as amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 and the post holder may not have any active political role either in or outside the work. Will only apply to HOS whose duties also involve giving advice to committees, sub-committees or to the Executive or speak on behalf of the Council to journalists e.g. Head of Scrutiny, Head of Communications, deputy monitoring and S151 officers.

Delegated Authority:
· To exercise decisions and discretion in authorising action in accordance with the Council’s policies, procedures and scheme of delegation
· To exercise decisions on strategic issues involving legal, technical, social, economic, policy, cultural and other matters of priority

To exercise decisions on service development and improvements in order to deliver long-term, community based sustainable solutions

In relation to Housing Needs & Homeless Service as a whole undertake the above decision making in collaboration with the portfolio Head of Service and/or the Director/Executive Director/CE in order to provide cover as and when needed

Person Specification
Experience:
· Proven ability to lead a strategic team at a similar level through customer services and leadership capability
· A successful track record and background of consistent achievement at senior management level in a local authority or large complex organisation.

· Demonstrable track record of successful achievement in the areas of the following:
– Homelessness prevention
– Housing options
– Housing register and allocations
– Housing mobility

Knowledge and Skills:
· An up to date knowledge of relevant national, regional and local policy in order to develop strategies and plans
· A good knowledge of the legal, policy and financial framework within which homelessness, housing options and allocation operate.
· High level of communication skills to persuade and engage audiences
and form positive relationships at all levels (internally and externally).
· Knowledge of close working with Cabinet Members and senior managers

Morgan Hunt is a multi-award-winning recruitment business for interim, contract and temporary recruitment and acts as an Employment Agency in relation to permanent vacancies. Morgan Hunt is an equal opportunities employer. Job suitability is assessed on merit in accordance with the individual’s skills, qualifications and abilities to perform the relevant duties required in a particular role.